Ere Ashes
by amy1oM-InnitMarvelous
Summary: Whatever happened to Anna Jarvis? **CHAPTER 3 has been posted!**
1. Chapter 1

"Jarvis, do you have any kids?"

"Yes, Master Tony, I do. I have a daughter."

"What's her name?"

"Sophie."

"Oh. Can I play with her?"

"I'm afraid that is not possible."

"How come?"

"Well you see, Master Tony, Sophie had to leave us when she was very young."

"Where'd she go?"

"To Heaven, lad. She went to Heaven."

"Oh."

Knowing the child before him as well as he did, Jarvis counted out the second as waited for the next inevitable question. He had barely reached the count of three when his charge asked, "Jarvis, where's Heaven?"

Smiling wistfully, the older man gathered up the little boy in his arms, and moved closer to the window most nigh to them. He pushed back the drapes, and pointed towards the dark velvet sky. "That, Master Tony, is where Heaven is."

"Heaven is in the stars?"

"Aye, it is."

"That's a long way from here!"

"indeed, it is."

"Jarvis, are you sad?"

He had always tried to be honest with his young charge, and he found he could be no less now when he answered softly, "Yes, I am indeed sad."

"Why?"

When he felt tiny arms encircle his neck, the butler couldn't help but silently curse at how very perceptive this child was, since this subject was becoming more difficult for him the longer they dwelled upon it. "It is because I miss Sophie." At the puzzled look on the boy's face he gently explained, "It's because when the people go to Heaven you can't see them any longer."

"Why not?"

"Because no one returns from Heaven once they've gone there."

"Why?"

"They just don't, lad," he replied before setting the child down on his feet.

"But why?"

"That will do. I think you've asked enough questions for one evening, Master Tony." Grasping a small hand in his own, the butler started walking them towards the former's bedroom. "Besides, it is nearly your bedtime."

"Awwww, Jarvis!"


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** I am sorry that this has been delayed so long and it is so short.

I hope to make more progress on this fanfic, and maybe finish it sooner rather than later!

* * *

"Hello, my _darling_…"

The butler sat heavily down on the stone bench beside the simple yet elegant gravestone that marked his beloved wife's final resting place. With his young charge put to bed hours ago, and his duties finally finished for another day, Jarvis was free to visit Anna's grave, which was easy to do thanks to the generous act of Mr. Stark and Mrs. Stark that (she had been the one who had really insisted) had allowed the bereaved man to bury his beloved wife on directly on their property, tucked away in a quiet corner of the gardens.

In the days that immediately followed Anna's death, her husband had found such solace being able to sit down by her side as often as he wished, which had been for a long time, daily and just mourn the very profound loss he had suffered. In those initial, first days of being without her, Jarvis had found himself blessing the Starks more than he ever thought possible.

Lightly touching her name with his fingers, he quietly spoke again, "I'm sorry that it's been so long since I've come but as always, whatever is leftover of my time and energy that is not consumed directly by Mr. Stark, is by Master Tony." There was a warm tone to the butler's voice that he could not help whenever he spoke of the boy on these visits.

He sighed, "I so wish that you could have known him, Anna, and I wish he could have known him. I am quite certain that I have never met a more mischievous, precocious child, and yet…"

His voice trailed off there, and went silent. So much of what went on in the household that concerned Tony wasn't right or just in any sense of the word. But Jarvis had been working for Howard Stark long enough to know in what areas he could push the man in without going too far. Unfortunately for the boy's sake, Tony was not one of those areas. Or at least he was not one that the butler could stick his nose in without risking being dismissed and leaving the little boy alone, and above all else he _wanted_ to be there to be a help to Tony as much as he could.

There truly was no point dwelling on what he was ultimately powerless to change.

He cleared his throat, his tone wistful, "He… Master Tony that is, asked me if I had any children today, and I told him about Sophie. I had intended to tell him only her name but as I said before, he is such a curious boy…"


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:** I know that this is truly not a long update but I am still working on it, have big sections written that can't be posted until I finished with the connecting parts. The biggest hold up now I have is trying to figure out the timeline of this story as well as trying to somehow make this fit enough with my Greatest Reward series well enough that I can reference the events of this story in those.

Sadly though it likely isn't going to work and it's because of one of the main events of this story and when Tony was born.

* * *

With a sigh, Jarvis laid his weary frame down in his bed, and tugged up the covers around him. His eyes fell to the side of the bed that had belonged to his beloved wife, and for a moment he just stared at the empty spot before turning over to face away from it.

He had spent almost an hour at her grave tonight, talking about everything that was happening to him lately, telling her about Tony, and how much he still missed her. Jarvis had never said so out loud and it wasn't something he often admitted to himself, and fortunately his work kept him from thinking on it too, often but the truth of the matter he was so very lonely for his sweet Anna. Between the innocent questions of young Stark heir, and his visit to his wife's resting place, Jarvis found that tonight was one of the nights that he was feeling the aching loneliness for her most acutely.

He closed his eyes with a sigh, knowing that tonight sleep would not be a cure for what he was feeling. Indeed if anything , it was likely to make things worse because his memories of her had been stirred up to the surface, and the old butler knew by experience he would spend his night reliving moments of his life with his darling Anna whether he wished to or not.


End file.
